Finger Lakes graduate Kaleem Edwards was named an Arthur Ashe Jr. Sport Scholar by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine for the 2013-14 school year.

Kaleem Edwards, a two-year member of the Men's Basketball team at Finger Lakes, was also only one of nine Men's Basketball players to receive the award nation-wide. On the court, Edwards had a successful career with the Lakers. He started 59 of 60 games for Finger Lakes over his two seasons, averaging 7.7 points per game. Edwards is 5th on the school's all-time list for assists in a career with 229. He tied this Finger Lakes record for assists in a game this past February in the Mid-State Athletic Conference Finals against Tompkins Cortland CC with 12 assists.

"In addition to being an outstanding student in the classroom, Kaleem was an outstanding student of the game," said Lakers Head Basketball Coach Richard Jones. "He had one of the highest basketball IQ of anyone I have ever coached."

In addition to his talents on the court, Edwards stood out in the classroom and community as well. He carried a 3.4 GPA while majoring in Business Administration. He also served as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board. In the community, Kaleem was part of a group of basketball players that volunteered to coach a local CYO basketball team in Canandaigua. He was looked upon as a role model by his players.

"Finger Lakes preaches 'Winning with Character' to all its student-athletes," explained Finger Lakes Director of Athletics Bob Lowden. "Kaleem has been a shining example of that ever since he stepped foot on campus two years ago."

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. –The Finger Lakes Community College men's soccer program just landed a promising young offensive talent in Corey Nash to its 2013 roster. A product of The Charles Finney School, a private Christian school in Rochester, N.Y., the soon-to-be freshman brings a stellar resume with him to the land of the Lakers. Nash, who made his first career start at the varsity level as an eighth grader, tallied 42 goals and 21 assists in his illustrious career at Charles Finney.

A projected forward, the 5-foot-10-inch Rochester, N.Y. native brings high expectations along with him to the Lakers roster this fall. His scorching speed combined with his shooting and passing skills provide Finger Lakes with a bona fide threat on the offensive end of the pitch. Nash's success at Charles Finney came with a curriculum vitae stuffed with individual accolades.

After finding the net for his first career goal as a varsity soccer player in eighth grade, Nash would go on to endure a successful high school career before committing to Finger Lakes.

In his freshman year, he found himself on the Section V Class D All-Tournament team roster. As a sophomore, the quality athlete was named captain of the varsity squad. Nash led the team in scoring for three consecutive years as a sophomore, junior, and senior. Also, during that time frame, he was a consistent top five scorer in the Private Parochial League. In addition, he led the league in assists his junior year.

Nash was a three-time offensive team Most Valuable Player while at Charles Finney. Moreover, he was selected to the All-Tournament team four times and was named as a member of the Section V All-Star team his senior year.

On top of succeeding on the field as a soccer player in high school, Nash was a two-time honor roll student his junior and senior years.

Finger Lakes head coach Brent Conley describes the newest Laker as "a great leader by example. He (Nash) is highly capable of becoming an immediate asset on offense as both a scorer and passer."

With the start of the season sitting just roughly three months away, the Lakers can feel joyous entering their 2013 campaign with this new addition attached to their roster.

FLCC 2013 Baseball Season in Review
May 14, 2013

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – The Finger Lakes Community College Lakers finished the 2013 season with a record of 23-28. Overall, the team took away several positives from the field this year.

The 23 wins notched by the Lakers were the most victories they have accrued in any individual season since 2006. The season had its ups and downs, but when it came to crunch time, Finger Lakes delivered in the clutch in the wins column.

Entering their 34th contest of the season, the Lakers, who stood at 11-22 at the time, kept its eyes set on making postseason play despite their record. With a solid roster and quality coaching staff in place, Finger Lakes had the talent in store for making a late season push to turn things around. Well, it would do just that as it would turn in a 12-4 record over its remaining 16 regular season games.

The turnaround to the season for the Lakers would all begin on Apr. 27 at conference foe Broome Community College. On that day, they would pick up a sweep of the Hornets and a day later, the Lakers would pick up their second consecutive sweep of Broome in as many days as they would take down the Hornets on their own field.

After taking four straight games from Broome, Finger Lakes would split four games with Alfred State College. It would take two from the Pioneers at home on Apr. 30 before dropping a pair of games to them on the road on May 2.

After dropping a pair to the Pioneers on May 2, Finger Lakes would bounce back as it would take two games from conference member Tompkins Cortland Community College on May 4.

After traveling to Tompkins Cortland, the Lakers, before its pivotal final series of the season at Corning Community College, would split a pair of doubleheaders against the likes of Jamestown Community College and Onondaga Community College on May 5 and May 7, respectively.

Entering the final day of regular season play on May 9, the Lakers eyes still remained set on reaching the postseason. With the help of a Jamestown win over Alfred State combined with Finger Lakes sweeping Corning, the Lakers late season hot play would put them in the regionals.

The two victories over the Red Barons of Corning supplanted Finger Lakes into the fourth and final playoff spot in Region III's Western Division. The Lakers, at season's end, completed regional play with a record of 17-12.

After reaching sub-regional postseason play, the Lakers traveled to play at No. 10 Herkimer County Community College on May 11 for a best-of-three-series. Unfortunately, Finger Lakes season would come to an end as it dropped a pair to the Generals.

Much can be said about the positive aspects that centered around the Lakers clubhouse in 2013. They donned not only a winning record in regional action; however they also supported a winning record in conference play as they went 13-5 in the Mid-State Athletic Conference.

In terms of individual achievements, second-year head coach Sean Marren was named Co-MSAC Coach of the Year while infielder Nate Eastman was named MSAC Player of the Year.

In the regular season, the Lakers offense produced a .299 batting average while their pitching staff put together a 4.96 Earned Run Average. Defensively, Finger Lakes held a .926 fielding percentage.

Offensively, the Lakers were led by Joey Simmons in numerous statistical categories. The freshman paced the team in batting average (.387), hits (70), runs (41), triples (7), stolen bases (28), and slugging percentage (.508). Simmons 70 hits set the record for most hits in an individual season in Finger Lakes Community College program history. At season's end, the Victor, N.Y. native was selected First Team All-Conference and was named team Most Valuable Player.

Eastman capped off his solid hitting with a team-best 31 RBIs. Rhodes, in addition to his hitting, produced the second most RBIs (25) on the team.

Hey's freshman year consisted of him registering 20 hits and 15 walks in 63 at bats. The infielder, to go along with his hitting, led the Lakers in on base percentage (.456). His outstanding play earned him team Most Improved Player.

Loparco and Consolie each joined Eastman, Simmons, and Catlin in the 20-plus RBI column with 22 RBIs and 21 RBIs, respectively.

In the pitching department, Finger Lakes was paced in the wins (6) and strikeout (45) columns by Dakota Stackhouse. The sophomore concluded his final season in a Lakers uniform by going 6-3 on the hill with a 4.20 ERA. Appearing in 15 games, Stackhouse accumulated his numbers over 55 2/3 innings. After finishing up a strong career at Finger Lakes, the right handed pitcher was named team Most Valuable Pitcher in 2013.

Following Stackhouse with four and three wins respectively were Derick Fera and Kevin Carpentier. Fera, out of all FLCC starting pitchers, produced the lowest ERA (3.58) in the rotation. He accumulated his ERA over 37 2/3 innings. Overall, Fera finished his first season as a Laker with a 4-2 record on the mound.

In the back end of the bullpen, sophomore Danny Baker led the team with his three saves.

In the fielding department, Eastman, who held down first base for Finger Lakes, recorded the most put outs (263) on the roster. Loparco, who saw a majority of his playing time on the left side of the infield, handed out the most assists (91) on the team. Centerfielder Simmons patrolled the middle part of the outfield for 50 games. While roaming centerfield, he totaled 98 put outs while committing just one error. Simmons ended the season with a .990 fielding percentage.

Behind the plate, Catlin and Rhodes tallied 115 and 98 put outs, respectively. In addition, both of these individual's did an excellent job of calling signals behind the backstop.

Next to Loparco in the assists column was Corey Galletta. The sophomore infielder accrued 86 assists in the 45 games he played in.

Failing to commit a single error this season for the Lakers were pitchers Fera, Stackhouse, Baker, Stephen Lewis, Nicholas Dolbear, Max Fleig, Timothy Jones, Corey Lendel, and Alan Rombkowski. In addition, catcher Michael LiPani also failed to commit a single error in 2013.

Overall, the Lakers combination of talent and great coaching produced a quality product on the field throughout the spring. This year's roster was made up of 17 freshmen and 12 sophomores. Finger Lakes will see the departure of its strong sophomore class, but will look forward to retaining its superb freshmen class from this past season in 2014.

FLCC Track and Field Concludes Season at Nationals
May 13, 2013

COLUMBIA, Md. – The Finger Lakes Community College track and field men and women traveled to Howard Community College over the weekend to compete in the NJCAA National Championships. For the women, Julie Brooks took second place overall in the high jump with a 1.49 meter performance. In addition, Brooks took sixth in the triple jump where she jumped to a distance of 10.11 meters and was ninth in the long jump with her 4.71 meter leap.

Leigha Tilton produced solid performances in the final meet of the season. The sophomore was fifth in the 100 meter hurdles (17.38 seconds), 19th in the 100 meters (13.86 seconds) and eighth in the high jump (1.39 meters).

On the men's side, Andre Farrell placed seventh in the 100 meter finals with a time of 11.42 seconds. Farrell also participated in the 200 meter sprint where he finished 18th with a time of 23.42 seconds.

Farrell was the leadoff sprinter for the 4x100 meter relay team which took 12th place overall with a time of 45.23 seconds. Joining him on the 4X100 team were Quinton Parrow, Jacob Schenk, and Anthony Shuler.

Track and Field - Ayol named First Team All-Region by the NJCAA
May 10, 2013

CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. – Gayang Ayol, after placing first in the men's 800 Meter Run last weekend at the Regional Championships in Alfred, N.Y., has been named First Team All-Region. In the run, the sophomore notched the number one spot by racing to a finish of 2:02.07.